The Other Time
by IrishFrenchy
Summary: My take on what could have happened between them all those years ago... I wrote a sort of sequel to this, it's called Another Condition. Darvey


It was Donna's birthday. So okay, she got drunk. That was just a normal thing to do on one's birthday, no? No one could blame her; she'd turned the big 2-9. Only one more year and she'd be hitting middle age. The only problem in this picture was that it was Harvey Specter who had taken her out that night. It was Harvey Specter who was also drunk, who was insistent on covering the bill, who was insistent on walking her home. It was a cold night in February, one that definitely meant less people were out and about the later it got.

He never went to her apartment. In fact, he'd only been there once on his own, for some dinner party with her family. But now, this time was different. The house was empty except for her dog, Sam and the roaming chipmunks that lived in the apartment downstairs from her. Things were just bound to go wrong.

One problem Donna Paulsen had always had, no matter her age, was she couldn't hold her liquor. Not only that, but she was the type of girl who was suddenly willing to do _anything _once she had a few in her. Not a good combination with a certain Mr. Specter at your side, just as drunk as a skunk.

He knew he'd had too much to drink and he promised her he'd hail a cab home instead of driving. Luckily, Donna only lived a block from the bar so he'd told her he would walk her home. No problems there…

It was what happened when they got to her apartment that would forever change their lives. Harvey pulled his sweater closer and crossed his arms over his chest. "Nippy out, huh?" he asked as they rounded the corner to her little apartment. "Yeah," she agreed. "It is really really cold out." Her words were slurred from booze and she sighed, pocketing her hands to keep warm. She looked up at Harvey, a little smile tugging at her lips. "So, I've never asked you this before but I've always been curious." Harvey was suddenly washed over with inner panic. Whenever she started a sentence like that, the end result was disastrous. "What?" he asked, his speech slurring as he tried to focus his eyes on her.

They passed a sandwich shop where they usually ate and the owner waved to them, just as he was closing up. The two smiled back and continued on their way. "I know you're not the marrying kind, but why don't you at least see somebody? I don't think I've seen you with a steady girl for over, geez I don't know, five years." She almost tripped over a step but Harvey caught her as they walked. "There's a reason for that," he told her. She looked up at him in the dark, trying to make out his expression. "Oh yeah? And what's that?" He stopped walking outside of her apartment, his hands slipping into his pockets when he stopped. "Because if you have feelings for someone, someone you can never have, anyone else would just be a waste of your time and theirs." His words hit her someone deep, somewhere she couldn't even identify. Even in her drunken state, she could make out the shyness on his face while the words left his lips. Somehow, in some way, those words were directed towards her. A few beats passed by and they just looked at each other.

"And what's stopping you from telling her?" Donna asked and her limbs suddenly felt like jelly. "What is the reason you 'can't have her?' It must be a pretty big obstacle." She tried to look like she didn't know a thing about what he was talking about. _Tried_ being the keyword in that sentence, of course. "Work," he simply said. She nodded her head drunkenly and leaned back against the brick of her building. "Work is usually the problem." She chuckled a little and then looked back up at Harvey. The expression on his face nearly knocked her off her ass. The mask was soon back up, though. He obviously hadn't meant for her catch him looking at her.

Maybe it was because she was _extremely_ drunk. Maybe it was just because she had a chomp at the bit already. He knew she'd seen him. So this time, she asked it. "Do you always look at me like that?" Her voice was raspy from all the booze and nervousness. His eyebrows raised in surprise and he stammered a bit before answering. "I'm sorry. What?" She took a little step closer to her boss and shrugged a shoulder. "You heard me. I said, do you _always_ look at me like that?" He knew damn well there was no getting out of this one, instead he did something he would never be able to take back even if he wanted to. He cupped her cheeks in his hands and kissed her.

For the first time in Donna's life, she felt good. It might have been the booze, the way he tasted, the crisp weather, or maybe even the Bruce Springsteen that floated from her neighbor's open window. Everything in that moment just seemed right. For those few seconds, time seemed to stand still. The one man she'd always had such strong feelings for, was kissing her. And he was not _just_ kissing her, he was kissing her with enough fervor and passion to melt her to the core.

She found herself kissing him back, her lips firm and yet so pliant against his. He got her by her waist, pulling her up against him. A little moan escaped her lips and she pulled back from him. "What are we doing?" she asked wide eyed and breathless. Harvey let her go as she backed up, his chest heaving as he fought to catch his breath. He didn't say anything, he merely swallowed hard and blinked a few times. Donna dragged her eyes over him and raised her eyebrows. "You're, um…" She decided it best not to point out the issue he was having in his trousers. He ran a hand over his slicked hair and sighed. "No, oh god... Well, I should go." She watched as his eyebrows drew together and he turned to walk away. The line they'd once drawn between each other had just been broken and he knew that was no going back now. He was horrified at the repercussions and he back pedaled, turning on his heels to leave. "I'm so sorry," he mouthed to her.

"No, no you don't get to walk away like that. I can't handle that. I want you, I always have! I cannot believe you just kissed me," she said as she tugged him closer by his sleeve. He tripped a little and stumbled over to her. "Come here," she told him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his lips down to hers. A little surprised noise left his lips and he kissed her back.

Somehow, they had made their way upstairs and without breaking or tripping over anything, and eventually they found themselves in her bedroom. The rest of the night was spent tangled up in her sheets, making love to each other. Donna, even being drunk, had never had such great sex. Harvey was an animal and she couldn't get enough of him.

When the morning came, Donna pecked her eyes open. "Ugh," she groaned, her head starting to pound from the amount of booze she'd had the night before. She rolled over in bed and the only thing she could smell was Mon' Au'ver cologne. "Harvey," she choked and her eyes opened wide. "Shit!" She put her hands over her face and let out a muffled scream. Her sheets reeked of him and it made her head dizzy. She loved the way he smelled. "I had sex with my boss last night, oh my god. Boss… Who are you kidding?" She must have been crazy because it was at the point where she was talking to herself now. "He's your best friend. You're fucking in love with him. Stop calling him your boss. You been working together for ten years." She ran a hand through her hair as she looked around. Just as she suspected, there were no traces of him. He'd already gone home.

With a sad and defeated sigh, she rolled out of bed and padded into the kitchen. All she wanted to do was cry. "God, I'm so stupid," she mumbled. "Of course he left. He's not in love with you or anything. Last night was a fluke!" She poured herself a cup of coffee and added a bit of sugar. "At least he made coffee for me…" Holding the warm mug between her hands, she turned to go sit at her table. What she saw there surprised her. "A note," she mumbled in surprise. Her husky came tromping into the room, his tail wagging like crazy.

_Donna,_

_I'm sorry, I had to go. My brother called, he got himself into trouble again. Had to bail him out because of some stupid bar fight._

_By the way, last night was great…_

_Harv_

All she could do was just stare at the little piece of paper. A smile tugged at her lips and she sighed. "Last night was good," he said, reading the words off the paper. "Guess that's his way of saying I love you, too." She chuckled and put the paper back down on the table, raised her mug to her lips and took a sip of her dark coffee. Sam rubbed himself against her leg and reached down to pat his head and whisper things to him. "Good boy," she told him. "I know you won't just up and leave me like that butt head, even if he had a good reason." She laughed a little and he licked her cheek.

The next day was back to work. "I hate Mondays," Donna quipped as she rounded the cubical wall to her desk. Louis was walking by and he smiled. "Morning, Donna." She smiled back and nodded. "Morning," she told him.

A few minutes later, she saw Harvey blustering down the hall with his hands in his pockets. Someone, presumably a client, was trying to keep up with him and talk his ear off. Harvey didn't say anything, he just nodded and kept walking. "Good morning," he said to Donna as he walked past her. She just looked up at him, her eyes meeting his. A blush crept up her cheeks and she smiled. "Good morning, handsome." Somewhere in the distance, Louis laughed. "His ego doesn't need any more stroking, Donna. Careful about that." They both turned to see Louis coming back their way.

Harvey rolled his eyes. "Oh please, I'll take a nice compliment now and then. There are worse things of mine that could be stroked. You on the other hand, I can't imagine you get very many compliments." The two men seemed to glare at each other for a long minute. Donna stood up and waved her hands between them. "Boys, come on, play nice."

A long sigh left Harvey's lips and he turned away from Louis, leaving the man frowning in his wake. "I need these copied, please," Harvey told Donna as he handed her a few manila folders. They just shared a smile and she took the things he had handed her. "Okay," he said with a nod.

"You look good," Donna told him. Louis just watched them as they talked. "How'd you sleep?" Her question made him smirk a little. "Good," he answered and shrugged a shoulder. "_Last night _I slept good. The night before, well, I was a little too busy to catch some z's." Donna blushed deeper and Louis seemed to notice. "Okay, okay," the man began and put his palms up in defeat. "I'm not gonna ask. I don't even want to know. In fact, I'm leaving. Have a good day, Donna."

Donna and Harvey just laughed and they went their separate ways. She couldn't help but watch his back as he walked into his office. The suit he was wearing didn't do him justice, not by any means. His broad shoulders swayed a little as he walked and her eyes trailed down his back to his ass. She hummed in appreciation and bit her lip, her thoughts going to the night before last. She remembered how he'd felt on top of her, the way he'd tasted, the way he'd looked as he made love to her. Everything about it was so passionate, booze and drunkenness aside. It was _amazing_. Man, she was head over heels for him.

Harvey caught her staring at him while she was gnawing at her lip. He just raised an eyebrow at her and he fell into his office chair, half expecting her to actually have a heart attack. She quickly looked away, her ears burning with embarrassment. She could feel his eyes on her but she absolutely refused to look over at him. Instead, she turned on her computer and logged in, then took the files he needed and nearly ran off to the copy room in the basement.

Sara, a good friend of Donna's, was messing with the copy machine. The two smiled at each other and said hello's. "Happy birthday, I almost forgot," Sara told her. Donna smiled wide and nodded a thank you. "What'd you do for your birthday?" Donna leaned back against the desk near them and shrugged a shoulder. "Oh," she began. "Nothing really. Just hung out." Sara rolled her eyes as she put some more paper into the printer. "Who's the guy? Was he super sexy?" she asked She started gnawing at her lip because the machine was being a pain in the rear-end.

Donna opened her mouth to say something but no words came out. "Gee, Donna Paulsen is speechless. That never happens… It was that good, huh?" Donna let out a little sigh and looked away. "It's not what you think, Sar. Harvey just took me out for some drinks. No biggy." Sara didn't even look up from what she was doing, she just smiled. It was a knowing smile and it nearly killed Donna. "Sure, and it's what happened after you had a few in you that made it great, right? I know you can't even hold a few beers." The two ladies laughed and after a long moment, Donna let out a little girly squeal. "Of course," she told her, her eyes flashing to the files in her hands. "But nothing's changed… We're still the same. I knew that was gonna happen."

Donna earned an odd glance her way. "What do you mean, nothing's changed? How can two people who _obviously _care a great deal about each other just sleep together and everything goes back to normal?" The redhead thought about that for a while before saying, "I don't know, it's Harvey." They both chuckled a little, knowing all too well that he was in category all by himself. "It happened by accident," Donna explained. "I mean, he was talking, telling me how he feels about some things. Then we just kissed. It was amazing. We slept together. But, I mean it when I say, things haven't changed. If anything, we've just reached an understanding. I'm sure the other night was a one-time thing…" Donna and Sara both shared a look, a sad and slightly disappointing look.

"Well," Sara said, taking her freshly printed papers out of the printer. "Like my grandma always said, better to have shagged then never to have shagged at all." Donna laughed, having expected some great piece of advice. Sara joined in and they just sat there for a moment, laughing. "Well, you're grandmother was absolutely right, Sara."

**(Author's note: Okay, so, this is my take on 'the other time' that Donna was talking about. I know, I know, I'm just soooo original when it comes to names. Deal with it, homies. Takes place way way in the past, as you can so obviously see. Haha. By the way, I wrote a sequel to this, it's called Another Condition. I love reviews. Just saying! *nudge nudge* Tehe.)**


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